Page 45 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

In the meantime, we’d agreed to continue with small renovations in the house. This morning my plan was to tackle the wallpaper in one of the smaller bedrooms that featured a cast of dancing bears and multicolored trees that reminded me of some kind of weird psychedelic forest.

For the first two hours, I sprayed the walls with a mix of liquid fabric softener and water to break down the glue. I’d just started to pull down the edges in the corner of the ceiling when a voice said, ‘Wow! Someone must have had an odd Goldilocks fantasy.’

‘I was thinking more like Hansel and Gretel on drugs,’ I said, smiling at Tessa.

She moved around the room touching walls and counting out the square footage. I’d taught her a few things about construction. While she had no interest in joining my business, she was always curious to learn.

‘Nice size for a bedroom but there’s no closet.’

‘It happens a lot in these old homes,’ I said, climbing down the ladder. ‘Back in the late nineteenth century, closets were rarely part of the design. They had old wardrobes where they hung their clothes.’ I patted a portion of a side wall. ‘I’ll have to cut into here to create one. Some codes in the state say you can’t call it a bedroom without a closet.’

A dozen questions bubbled on my lips as she walked around the room. I wanted to know about the bookstore. Was it in trouble like the rest of Ivy Falls? Had she talked to our dad about it? Hell, had she talked to anyone about it?

‘Number?’ I asked quietly.

‘A solid five. What about you?’

‘It was a six until I started thinking about how much work it’s going to take to get this paper down.’

She gave me a half-smile and turned back to surveying the room. ‘I got another text from Billy this morning.’

‘What did he say?’ I forced the words to be emotionless because she’d shut down if I showed any sign of anger. Even though he was an asshole, she still wanted to protect him.

‘He confirmed he’s coming to see the girls right after Fourth of July.’

‘Is he going to bring her?’

‘No. At least he didn’t mention it,’ she said, her cheeks going too pale.

‘What about the divorce?’

‘I’ve brought it up several times but he always dodges the subject.’

‘Maybe when he shows up, you can press him on it.’

Her shoulders gave a little and all I wanted was to wrap her in my arms. Protect her from all the pain her piece-of-crap husband was causing. Instead of ranting on about what an asshole he was, I reached for an extra scoring tool. ‘Want to help?’

‘I can’t. My lunch break is almost over. I only came by to remind you about story time and a certain promise you made to two little girls.’

Last night during bath time, I’d promised I’d sit with the girls at the P&P’s story hour while Penny, a long-time employee, read their favorite book, Harold and the Purple Crayon.

‘Four o’clock?’

‘Yes. I’m reading today because Penny’s out sick.’ I hated the way her voice trembled again.

Tessa avoided story hour like vampires hid from sunlight. She’d settle the girls on the rainbow-colored carpet and then make some excuse about work in the office. Story time had been our mother’s favorite event at the store. Tessa still couldn’t bear to pick a book from the shelves and take over our mother’s place in the fire-engine-red chair set in the center of the children’s section.

She’d been through so much in a short time. Now she was tackling an ache so heartbreaking I could practically taste her pain. I couldn’t be at the house when Billy showed up because I wasn’t sure I could keep all my rage bottled up inside.

‘Come to get a little dirt under those nails?’

Manny stood in the doorway, his adoring gaze fixed on Tessa. I loved that he harbored a small crush on her. That he treated her like the queen she really was. But no matter how he felt, he’d never act on it. He understood the pain of losing someone you loved, and he was too good a man to ever do anything that would make Tessa uncomfortable.

‘Not today. I’m only here to remind my sister she has a date later this afternoon with two little angels.’

‘Friday story hour?’ he said with a laugh.

‘That’s right. You should bring Lou.’ I loved how he could bring the light back to her eyes.